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The area of Jewish Spirituality is gaining greater hold upon how we conceive Judaism and upon what we feature in our presentations of Judaism as well as in our spiritual quest. Reference to Jewish Spirituality is recent, and has only come into vogue over the past 10-20 years, largely under the influence of language used to describe other traditions, primarily Christianity. Underlying the introduction of spirituality into our common vocabulary is the often unstated understanding that the domain of spirituality might provide a common ground between different religions, hence the ability to transport the very language of spirituality across religious boundaries. Significantly, the term "Jewish Spirituality" has gained great currency in English speaking Judaica, but is only beginning to make its impact in Hebrew speaking Judaica, under the influence of the former.
Because the area of spirituality is a recent import into the conceptual landscape of Jewish studies, it is worth examining its usefulness for the study of rabbinic thought. The rabbinic period isthe formative period, that establishes many of the patterns of Jewish religion since. The investigation of Jewish spirituality in the framework of the rabbinic period thus allows us to explore dynamics that might prove fundamental to Jewish Spirituality as a whole. At the same time it provides a possible new lens by means of
which to approach the rabbinic materials. Our knowledge of historical and literary corpora is structured time and again by new perspectives and disciplines in light of which we come to appreciate them. The conference seeks to probe the usefulness of "Spirituality" as a category through which new insight and understanding of the rabbinic materials might emerge. Just as "theology" is a category imported to the rabbinic materials, in light of which various structures and understandings emerge, so too "Spirituality" has the potential of casting a particular light upon the rabbinic materials
and making us more fully aware of various perspectives, dynamics and
sensibilities that are characteristic of the rabbis. Thus, the conference seeks to explore the bilateral relationship between its two constitutive components - rabbinic and spirituality. It seeks to explore the contribution of the rabbinic period to our understanding of Jewish Spirituality and of the usefulness of Jewish Spirituality as a lens through which we might come to a fuller appreciation of the rabbinic materials.
Topics will include:
Spirituality and Torah Study
Magic and Spirituality
Spirituality and Gender
This and Other-Worldly Spirituality
Merits and Meditations
Piety in the Rabbinic World
Prayer and Spirituality
Spirituality and the Body
Intentionality and Interiority
Spirituality: Educational Aspects
Rabbinic Thought as a Resource for Spirituality in Modern Thought
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